The Journey To An Unknown Destination 57 Talking By The Campfire

"Wow...!" They all said together in surprise as they entered the opening of the camping area. "This... Is so artistic!" Wilson smiled and nodded in agreement, as if he was the one who created this scene. "Indeed. The beauty of nature!" He stated proudly. "You'll see a lot more, this is just the beginning!"

Everyone moved towards their respective tents and went inside to take some rest from all that walking. Their legs had gone numb. Emily unzipped her tent, crawled inside and fell straight onto ground inside. She was too tired to put down a comfortable sleeping bad beneath her or even take a blanket over her. Exhausted from all that travelling and walking she fell asleep the very instant she closed her eyes.

She did not know for how long she slept but when she opened her eyes, she quickly peeked outside her tent and found that it was totally dark outside and really quiet as well. What time was it? Was it the middle of the night? How long did she sleep? She was hungry and her stomach was growling, she needed to eat dinner, but from where will she find food in the middle of a forest?! Her head started spinning but she heard a voice behind her.

"Emily!"

Wait... Was it Aiden? Is he not asleep yet? She turned around and saw Aiden walking towards her.

"Hey, Emily! Finally you woke up yourself. I was coming to wake you up. Looks like you had a pretty good sleep. Haha!" Aiden started chatted. But Emily was still half asleep and could not process what was going around in her surrounding. Maybe they never went camping in the forst place and it all was a wonderful dream? Still trying to observe the area, she asked Aiden sleepily, "What time is it? Where am I? What is happening?"

Hearing her ask those questions, Aiden burst out laughing. "Hey! What did I say?" Emily rebuked with her half closed eyes. "Ahahah!" Aiden laughed, drying a tear that escaped his eye. "Ahhh... You only slept for two hours only and right now, we are getting ready to have dinner. Some of the students are still sleeping, but I just came to wake you up so we fan have some fun before we start making something for dinner."

Hearing his explanation, Emily felt a lot more relieved. So she did not actually wake up in the middle of the night... She crawled out of her tent, stood up and stretched her arms and legs. "Ahhh! It seemed as if I slept for hours. It was quite cosy inside these tents." She said turning towards Aiden and asked, "So... What are we going to eat for dinner? And... Where's Cyril?"

Aiden started walking beside Emily towards the place where they will be having their dinner in a while. "Well, I'm not exactly sure what's for dinner, but I've heard from some students that it's something we'll cook ourselves. Haha... Cyril is waiting for us, near the campfire around that corner, behind that shed." Aiden said pointing in that direction. "Oh... Something we would cook ourselves... Ugh... Can't they just give us some decent food without having to do all that hard work?" Emily whined.

Aiden chortled. "Well, they said they want us to have an experience which is as close to living in the wild by oursleves and stuff like that." He shrugged. "Ah... We are just here for camping, not learning some survival techniques." Emily huffed.

Turning around the corner, Emily saw lots of students gathered in many groups, talking to each other around tiny campfires. The dark starry night was illuminated by the bright moonlight which engulfed the the top of the mountains and trees in a silver shade. Beneath which groups of orange flames lit up the area. It was a peaceful and pretty sight.

"Over here. I and Cyril are sitting here." Aiden led her towards Cyril, who was lazily leaning on the log behind him on the ground, beside a bright glowing campfire. "Ay! Look who's here?" Cyril poked fun at Emily. She rolled her eyes, grinning and sittinf beside him, crossing her legs. "Sleepyhead!" Cyril laughed. Emily lightly punched his elbow, "Am not!"

The three of them talked for a while. It was a comfortable atmosphere tonight, everyone was laughing and talking with each other. After everyone had gathered in the area, Ellen came out of nowhere with Wilson by his side as she clapped her hands and announced, "Alright, everyone listen up!"

She said loudly and every body stopped talking and turned their faces towards her. "We all are not here to dilly-dally all along the trip, I have come up with various activities that will keep you busy and happy! So, that is why you all will be cooking your meals yourself. Please take whatever you need from this shed right here and start working."

Ellen smiled, which seemed a wicked, evil smile to Cyril, Emily and Aiden and she walked away.